'Death-wish' P-plate motorbike hoon given suspended jail term

Steve Butcher

A high-speed probationary motorcycle hoon with a "death wish" who shocked police and terrified the public has been punished, but will suffer lifelong consequences for his conduct far beyond a magistrate's sentence.

A Melbourne court heard on Wednesday that Jali Enrique Perez Ramon endangered lives when he "opened up" his new black Yamaha R1 to speeds of 190km/h on the Eastern Freeway and 100km/h in a busy Collingwood street.

The two minutes of "madness" ended when Ramon crashed into the rear of a car, was thrown from his bike and lacerated his testicles, which hit the fuel tank.

His lawyer Tony Hannebery told Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday that Ramon was hospitalised, spent two months off work and, with permanent damage to one testicle, "is going to have lifelong memories of this".

In a summary by prosecutor Sergeant Geoff Adams, Ramon's speed was checked by police at 12.57pm on August 20, 2011, in Kew at a constant 190km/h before he accelerated when he saw the parked police car.

He performed an "aggressive and erratic" turn into Hoddle Street and, with a police car following with activated lights and siren, he mounted a median strip to push past heavy traffic, drove through a red traffic light and narrowly missed a truck while trying to evade police.

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A driver overtaken by Ramon later described as "unnerving" the sight of a bike travelling at such an "extremely aggressive speed" and remarked that he would "probably see that this rider had been killed on the news tonight".

The summary said police caught up with Ramon at the accident scene and established that he was on his lunch break and was taking his new bike for a "test run".

When magistrate Franz Holzer finished reading the summary, he told Mr Hannebery: "The best that can be said is that no one was killed."

Mr Hannebery said that Ramon, then 20 and now 23, "humbly" apologised to police and the general public for his conduct, which began when he panicked after seeing police.

Mr Hannebery told the court his client, who has no prior convictions, was no longer the "absolute hoon" from that day and that character references "speak of a different person altogether".

Ramon was from an "exceptional" family background and had since "turned his life around", he said. He did not drink, smoke or use drugs and had certificates to work fork and scissor lifts and had level four certificates in building and construction.

"He is anything but the hoon you read about in the summary," Mr Hannebery told Mr Holzer, and added that Ramon's "two minutes of madness" was his only transgression of the law.

Sergeant Adams conceded that the offending was almost three years ago, there had been no reoffending and Ramon was young at the time, but noted the behaviour involved excessive speed, efforts to evade police and placing the public in danger.

Ramon, of Delahey, pleaded guilty to charges of driving at a dangerous speed and driving dangerously.

Mr Holzer took into account Ramon's guilty pleas, his lack of convictions and the impressive references, but also noted the "people's lives you touched" by his dangerous and reckless conduct.

Mr Holzer told Ramon his behaviour could "fairly be described as a death wish" and commented that the injuries he suffered would have a "significant ongoing consequence for you".

Such conduct, which could have killed him, innocent members of the public and put police at risk, is "the sort of offending that is sadly and tragically far too prevalent".

Ramon was jailed for 10 months, the term suspended for two years, his licence was cancelled for 18 months and he was also convicted and fined $2000.